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Despite all the talk, once you actually ask for mental health help, most people quickly hit a dead end, with no idea where to go next.

You may end up on a waiting list, get a little help and maybe some meds from a family doctor, perhaps find a counsellor. Bits and pieces, but no real solutions.

When you’re stuck, what should you do? Who should you ask?

It’s overwhelming.

Odds are, many opportunities for you to get better are being missed entirely. Maybe you’ve even been on the wrong treatment for years. You’re doing more waiting than healing.

Bottom line: you’re not getting all the help you could be getting, and are staying sicker for longer than you need to be.

Enough!

There is a better way.

I waited a year for what turned out to be one 45min appointment with the most arrogant person I’ve ever met. He started peppering me with questions as soon as I sat down. My head was spinning and I had no time to think! He seemed to fixate on one thing I said early on, and didn’t give me a chance to tell my story or what my concerns were. Before I knew it, I left with a prescription for some pill. I have no idea what it is or what it’s supposed to do, and nobody has said anything to me about a diagnosis. What if it doesn’t work, or I have questions later? Do I have to wait another year? Would talking to some kind of therapist also help me? And who?

My wife finally convinced me to go see my family doctor as my mood had been low, and I was having trouble concentrating at work. He seemed annoyed, like he didn’t really want to hear it. You know what he told me? He said I should “just suck it up” and be glad I’m not sick with something real like cancer. He suggested I go talk to someone at my church because that’s what they’re there for. When I pushed he said he’d send me to a psychiatrist, but he didn’t know any that were taking patients. He said if I found one who would take me, he’d send in a referral. I walked out of that ten minute appointment even more confused than before.

I saw a psychiatrist for ten years who diagnosed me with bipolar and put me on what I now know is a third-line medication, because she didn’t think women should be on anything that might cause weight gain. My new psychiatrist took a detailed history and reviewed all my records. She told me what the first doctor thought was “hypomania” was nothing of the sort, and I never had bipolar. For ten years, I’d been taking a useless medication for something I never had! I’m off it now and feel better. I decided not to have kids because the medication I thought I needed to be on (but actually didn’t) sometimes causes birth defects.

These three anecdotes are based on real patient experiences, though are not direct quotes.

Compared with most physical illness, our system sucks at handling mental illness.

Pssst… here’s the big secret !

Unlike other areas of your health care, nobody is responsible for the big picture when it comes to your mental health.

Good mental health care requires keeping track of many things over a period of time—small details and big picture. This isn’t something that doctors who see you infrequently for too short visits can do well.

But you can.

We’ll show you how you can take an active role in your own care.

Psychiatrists

Increasingly treat only the most seriously mentally ill, and there aren’t nearly enough of them to do that well. If you’re “high functioning,” good luck seeing one at all, especially for more than a single short consult.

Family doctors

They can’t properly treat mental illness in the same short visits they’d use for physical illnesses, meaning they often get the diagnosis wrong, miss many underlying causes, and don’t identify the most likely treatments.

Medications

While they can often help, mental health meds are complicated and time-consuming to manage. There’s more trial and error involved, effects are hard to measure, and proper use requires a longer-term perspective.

Psychotherapy

Often effective, it’s out of reach for most people due to cost or availability, and finding the right therapist who can treat your actual illness is almost impossible without becoming a mental health expert yourself.

What if…?

You were understood.

When you asked for help, you were asking the right people, and they understood what you needed.

You knew what to do next.

You knew what treatments and interventions would be worth trying, what to expect, and when to move on to something else.

You had a plan.

Your mental health treatment was as organized and coordinated as your physical health treatment, and you could see yourself making progress.

Tapping a Valuable Health Care Resource… You!

We can’t snap our fingers and create thousands of new mental health workers. We can’t redesign the system so that the various pieces work together. We most definitely can show you how to better navigate your way through what we have.

You don’t need an advanced degree or any special training. You do need to devote a bit of time and attention. This isn’t for everyone; people who are very sick will have difficulty taking on some of the tasks.

But for a great many people with mental health difficulties, you’ll be able to use what we teach to work with your family doctor, psychiatrist or others to receive far better care than these mental health professionals could provide alone.

We believe that as patients, consumers and citizens, it’s not only in our own self-interest, but also our responsibility, to make the smartest use we can of the limited healthcare resources we have available.

When it comes to your mental health, a little bit of education can go a very long way…

(Actual cover pending)

Here are just a few of the things you’ll learn…

What physical health problems can mimic mental health symptoms…

Insider tricks to avoid waiting longer than needed to see a specialist…

When treatment for mental health is and isn’t necessary…

The different types of therapies and therapists, and avoiding the wrong ones…

How to accurately and concisely describe your symptoms…

Why you need to prepare for a mental health interview, and how to do it…

Why so many medications, how they’re chosen, and what to expect…

The mistakes that lead to abandoning potentially helpful treatments…

The questions you must ask, and the questions you must be able to answer…

Lifestyle factors that can have a huge impact on your mental health…

How to separate fact, fiction and conspiracy theories using Dr. Google…

Most of all you’ll learn how best to improve your mental health,
saving plenty of time (and maybe money) doing so.

Ready to Get Better, Faster?

We have a great book covering all this in the works. Unfortunately, it’s not ready quite yet.

Leave us your email and we’ll update you on our progress, let you know as soon as it’s ready, and provide you with some valuable pre-launch goodies.

In the meantime, we’ll send you several resources we’ve developed so you can accelerate your mental health care—starting today!

Mental Health Navigator

Help for those suffering from mental illness who are too “high functioning” to access good care in a reasonable timeframe.

We’ll help you learn more about your illness and treatments, and show you practical ways to more actively participate in your own care, and help you get better faster.